Halton high school robotics teams to compete in North Bay

Halton high schools have been busy this spring with robotics competitions across the province.

Milton’s Craig Kielburger Secondary School (CKSS) robotics club started the First Robotics competition team this past fall and the rookie team made it to the finals at the Waterloo Regional First Competition last weekend. Some 30 school robots competed at the event.

Playing alongside allies from Rick Hansen Secondary School in Mississauga and St. David’s in Waterloo, the team was able to develop a strategy that set high-score records for all the First Competitions being played out internationally in March.

Kielburger teacher Mike Druiven said First Robotics competition “combines the excitement of sport with science and technology to create a unique varsity sport for the mind.

“It helps high-school-aged young people discover the rewarding and engaging world of innovation and engineering.”

The competition is a series of short games played by remote-controlled robots, which are designed and built by teams of students and engineer-mentors. It has grown in popularity to 13 countries competing in 58 regional events. It culminates with a championship to be held in St. Louis with more than 10,000 participants.

The students, Druiven and Dean Lane, head of technological education at CKSS, are taking their robot to North Bay’s Nipissing University for another regional competition March 27 to 29.

Teams from Georgetown District High School, Milton District High School, Oakville Trafalgar High School and Burlington’s MM Robinson, Central, and Robert Bateman high schools are also competing in North Bay.

Grants and sponsorships from State Farm Insurance, UA local 67, Local 793 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Eaton, Stackpole International, Professional Engineers of Ontario and the HDSB have make it possible for these teams to build robots and compete in regional competitions across North America.